Tag: FDA

In this short video, I answer questions from fans and followers about energy drinks and caffeine. What makes a drink an “energy drink” and how does a person know how much caffeine they can have? Tune in below:

Yes, I recorded this Q&A session in portrait (not landscape) on purpose because it works better for some of the apps I use for my fans in Germany and Sweden.

If you would like to submit a question for the next GreenEyedGuide Q&A or contact GreenEyedGuide about guest speaker opportunities, please use the comment field below or use the About/Contact link here.

Cool Blue Revitalizer

✔1. “Real Sugar” – true, but it ALSO has sucralose.
✔2. “Natural Flavor” – I guess BLUE drink =BLUE-berries? To me this drink tasted like CITRIC ACID OVERLOAD!!! WOAH BUDDY!
✔3. “Natural Caffeine” – From where? The label doesn’t specify but it’s 100 mg caffeine [#fatiguelevel2]
🤓PET PEEVE: 1 container= 1.3 Servings? Really…you couldn’t change your formula or can size?
🔬SODIUM BENZOATE— Did you know that benzoate salts like this one prevents growth of microorganisms like yeast and mold; it’s used for preservation of sour food (pH 4 and lower) and is often used with other preservatives especially at low pH (acidic food).
🔬SODIUM BENZOATE SAFETY NOTES — Consumers can ingest up to 5mg per kg of body weight of benzoic acid and its salts according to European Commission – Scientific Committee on Food. There are safety concerns suspected but unconfirmed for benzene formation from benzoic acid with ascorbic acid. However, this risk “cannot be reliably assessed on basis of data available” per BfR Expert Opinion. [More Info on the “Panera KNOW-No List“]

Red Bull Purple Edition (sugarfree)

Caffeine Content 114 mg = Fatigue Level 3

The Science Behind RED BULL PURPLE EDITION: Red Bull has less caffeine and fewer ingredients than Monster and Rockstar. No guarana, carnitine, glucuronolactone, ginseng, or ginkgo; NO PRESERVATIVES! NO SUGAR!

🤓Since Red Bull has been around a long time there are mounting scientific studies testing its effectiveness🤓Red Bull is not only the NUMBER ONE SELLING ENERGY DRINK BRAND on the PLANET, they also set the standard for energy drink industry SAFETY GUIDELINES. Red Bull was the FIRST ENERGY DRINK Company to list caffeine content on their cans several years ago, paving the way for other companies to follow suit.
🤓FURTHERMORE Red Bull has been open about their commitment to food safety and quality – you can read all about that HERE: ⚡ Red Bull on Caffeine Safety and Transparency ⚡
✔This MAY NOT BE FOR YOU IF you are trying to avoid artificial flavors and/or sweeteners – This drink has Sucralose and Ace-K but I am more concerned about the KNOWN effects of high sugar intake than the DEBATABLE effects of these two sweeteners.
✔Ace-K has been USED AROUND THE WORLD for 15 years and used in the US since 1988.
✔Sucralose was approved by FDA in 1998, and it’s considered safe by government/regulatory agencies worldwide.
✔As far as caffeine interactions that (maybe?) make energy drink more dangerous than coffee, I enjoy Red Bull’s simple ingredients, sugarfree options, and moderate caffeine content. 🤓💚⚡⛾⚡🔬⚡

Iconic Protein + Coffee Drink

Caffeine Content 180 mg = Fatigue Level 3

If caffeine is best for PREworkout and protein is best for POSTworkout, what do you do with a CAFFEINE+PROTEIN COMBO?
🤓 DRINK IT!
But seriously, here’s what you should know:

Monster Hydro Mean Green

Caffeine Content 125 mg = Fatigue Level 3

As the GREENEyedGuide I’m bummed “Mean GREEN” is yellow.

As a Food Scientist, I know artificial green is hard to keep green and natural green often involves spirulina, which has the slightest seawater taste. I don’t normally talk about taste in my reviews bc it’s subjective, but this tasted like flat Moutain Dew or old lemonade to me. 🤓💚🔬⛾

KEY Ingredients:
✔Sugar sources include sucrose (table sugar), glucose, and artificial sweetener sucralose. 23g! Not awful but <10g is my sweet spot (food pun!)
✔NO GUARANA OR TAURINE OR CARNITINE so really different than the typical Monster Energy Blend.
✔125 mg caffeine per bottle, compared to 180mg in most flavors of Monster Energy.

Is Monster Hydro a healthier alternative to Monster Energy?
YES in terms of lower caffeine content and FEWER Caffeine-(other ingredient) INTERACTIONS, which some people* think make some energy drinks more dangerous than coffee.*I’m on the fence about this. Caffeine-Taurine-glucuronolactone combos are fine but no data for or against caffeine-carnitine combos yet.

F’real Frappe Coffee

Caffeine Content not disclosed – Unknown Level of Fatigue

That Moment When you want to hide your CAFFEINE CONTENT so badly, you COMPARE yourself to something AMBIGUOUS. “2x caffeine as leading frozen coffee”

Who is the leading FROZEN coffee and HOW MUCH caffeine do they have? It is FALSE to assume a cup of coffee has a standard amount. 1 cup at Starbucks doesn’t equal 1 cup at Pikes or 1 cup at your hotel.
Neat concept with the DIY F’Real Blender machine but if we’re going to GET REAL (or “f’real”) ABOUT CAFFEINE SAFETY we need EVERYONE to report caffeine content.

Have you ever seen a bottle of ALCOHOL that DID NOT disclose the %?
PS – sixty-one grams of sugar y’all. Sixty. One. But look at how clean and simple the ingredients are. Too bad simple doesn’t = healthy. 🤓💚⛾🔬

West Coast Chill (caffeine free energy drink)

Caffeine Content = ZERO! Fatigue Level 0-1 Energy Drink

An energy drink with NO CAFFEINE?!? Does the term “energy drink” mean anything anymore!?!

Let’s inspect it: 🤓💚⛾🔬Active ingredients include:
🤓Ribose – a compound that participates in an odd (pun) energy producing reaction called the Pentose phosphate pathway. Promising science, just hasn’t caught on yet.
🤓Ginseng – be skeptical of benefits!
🤓Arginine – amino acid with important jobs in the body (Urea Cycle Waste Removal). HOWEVER the BEST way to supplement arginine is to TAKE Citrulline!
🤓B-vitamins AND minerals – minerals aren’t usually in energy drinks. Curious… 🤓💚🔬⛾📚

Pretend you’re on a on vacation and you’re given $400 a day, every day, to cover your expenses. Would you spend that all at once or try to make it last the whole day? Now pretend that money allowance is actually your caffeine allowance, which brings us to our excerpt of the week:

​The Background

Consuming up to 400 milligrams of caffeine per day is considered safe for the healthy adult population. This limit was determined by the Bureau of Chemical Safety, Food Directorate of Health Canada. The FDA uses this limit because it’s based on a comprehensive review of published studies on the effects of caffeine on human health.

Essentially the authors of this review searched all published studies on human health and caffeine, then determined the overall consensus among the studies.

The consensus was consuming 400 milligrams of caffeine per day doesn’t pose a threat to the heart, the bones, or male fertility, and doesn’t cause general toxicity or increased incidents of cancer. Consuming caffeine safely means not exceeding this 400 milligrams per day limit.The Lesson

Before consuming an energy drink, look at the number of milligrams of caffeine per serving and the number of servings per container. Careful not to blow your whole caffeine allowance in one shot.

Learn more about the ABCs of Caffeine Safety in “Are You a Monster or a Rock Star-A Guide to Energy Drinks: How They Work, Why They Work, How to Use Them Safely”.

There are a handful of “energy drinks in disguise” I’d recommend, but Mountain Dew’s Kickstart is not one of them. It’s certainly not the worst energy drink I’ve encountered, and I’m inspired to give it the full review deep dive because of its rising popularity. We’ll review WHO IT’S FOR(ingredient preferences and avoidances), WHAT’S IN IT(key and interesting ingredients), and WHEN TO CONSUME IT(caffeine and the 5 Levels of Fatigue). At that point, you can decide if this drink appeals to you. Read more →

Why is it a 15 year old in the US can only have 100 milligrams of caffeine a day, while a 15 year old in Canada can have 400 milligrams? For the book excerpt of the week, we consider the difference in caffeine limit recommendations from US and Canada.

You may need these guidelines if the US presidential race has prompted you to consider moving to Canada. Regardless, it’s interesting to consider Canada’s approach to caffeine safety for kids.

For more on caffeine regulations and the rest of the conversation on the ABCs of Caffeine Safety, get your copy of “Are You a Monster or a Rock Star-A Guide to Energy Drinks, How They Work, Why They Work, How to Use Them Safely”, available wherever books are sold.